#SCOTUS Ruling: Can Your Company Avoid Paying for Your Birth Control?

In a 5-4 vote today, the Supreme Court ruled that closely-held companies are not required to cover the costs for certain types of contraception under the Affordable Care Act, because it violated a federal law protecting religious freedom.

Two companies owned by Christian families: Hobby Lobby, a chain of craft stores, and Conestoga Wood Specialties, which makes wood cabinets, argued that having to provide coverage for birth control such as the “morning after pill” (which stops the embryo from implanting in the uterus) was a violation of the First Amendment and other federal laws protecting religious rights. And by providing coverage for these types of contraception, they were playing a part in carrying out the abortion.

“It’s hard to imagine that in 2014, in the United States, there are judges and politicians who continue to object to women’s abilities to access birth control,” said Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, in a statement today. “This decision made by five male justices sets a dangerous precedent allowing corporations to interfere in the private health decisions of their employees, who happen to be women. And it is women who will pay the price.”

While the companies stated that they have no problem covering other types of contraception, such as condoms, sponges, diaphragms, several forms of birth control pills and sterilization surgery, this ruling does open the door for businesses to make their case against many other laws based on religious freedom.

According to Richards, 99 percent of women use birth control at some point in their lives. It’s universal. She also pointed out that 98 percent of Catholic women use contraception.

“For most women it is not a religious issue, shared Richards. “Birth control isn’t a controversial topic for women. What is controversial is that we are still fighting to have this basic health care covered by insurance.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, for-profit employers (that are a certain size) are required to offer insurance benefits for birth control and other reproductive health services without a co-pay. This case looked to answer the question of whether these companies can refuse on the “sincere claim it would violate their owners’ long-established moral beliefs.”

The resulting answer: the sincerity of the companies’ beliefs was found to be legitimate, and exemptions have been offered to other groups on such grounds.